# Mac Baren Plumcake review



## Desertlifter (Feb 22, 2011)

So why haven't you guys been pimping this stuff?

I had a sample of Plumcake sitting around for like.....months (yah - that's my fault)....and finally grabbed it from the box of pipey goodness today. I wanted something different/newish to me and have been working on clearing some of my samples. Some blends seem to possess me somewhat during my regular piping. Blends like Pembroke (have I mentioned that I love Pembroke in the last ten minute? I LOVE PEMBROKE!) and a few others are hard to tear myself away from sometimes.

Anyway plumcake sounded good, so in the cob it went. Part of this was to try the blend, part of it is my continuing quest for figuring out how this piping thing works. Lately it has been "how dry is dry?" and I put this bit of Mac Baren to the flame in a crunchy state. When I say crunchy I mean that it wouldn't clump together at all.

But I get ahead of myself. The tobacco is evenly cut and packs well in the pipe, and to the nose I get the plum and a bit of fig. The blend lists rum and Latakia, but I detect neither, at least prior to the burn. Once I lit the pipe I was rewarded with a light sweetness. Not the treacly gloop of many aros, but something a bit more subtle - more like a Peterson aromatic. 

Oddly enough, the tobacco had a slight flowery note, particularly on the retrohale. It was seriously almost Lakeland-like. Luckily for me, I love Lakelands and quite enjoyed this. Tobacco reviews lists burley and Latakia in the blend - I wonder if somehow the Lat was doing that - maybe expressed in that manner by the dryness of the tobacco.

Relights? Nope. Of course the tobacco was pretty darn dry, so that was no surprise. Tongue bite? Absolutely none, likely again the dryness at work? Either way, I enjoyed this smoke. The burley was there on the retrohale, the plum was subtle but represented, and the burn was straight down the barrel, so to speak. I will absolutely have to try this stuff again in a less crunchy state.


----------



## Dr. Plume (Sep 24, 2012)

Excellent going on my to try list! Nice review!


----------



## Smoke King David (Mar 11, 2007)

I re-tried Plumcake in a thick walled Oom Paul and it was really good. If you haven't tried MacBaren's The Solent Mixture, you might want to consider giving it a whirl; it seems to be in the same "family" or style as Plumcake.


----------



## BigG (Aug 13, 2010)

Nice review - Thanks!
I've never been able to develop an appreciation for Latakia, but the amount that's in Plumcake is only condimental & really adds an interesting bit of flavor to the blend and makes a fine tobacco absolutely delicious in my book. I've been working my way through a tin that's around 10 years old & it's just marvelous. I've stocked up on Plumcake & hopefully it'll always have a place in my humble cellar.
I'm a big fan of many of the MacBaren blends, and Plumcake is IMHO one of the best.


----------



## lostdog13 (Jan 16, 2012)

Brian I thank you for an excellent review. My wallet, however, is flipping you off.

This is going on my "to try" list


----------



## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

Great review and thank you!


----------



## pipe30 (Dec 5, 2012)

Nice review! I just got some of this and I'm excited to try it.


----------



## Krizzose (Feb 28, 2012)

BigG said:


> Nice review - Thanks!
> I've never been able to develop an appreciation for Latakia, but the amount that's in Plumcake is only condimental & really adds an interesting bit of flavor to the blend and makes a fine tobacco absolutely delicious in my book. I've been working my way through a tin that's around 10 years old & it's just marvelous. I've stocked up on Plumcake & hopefully it'll always have a place in my humble cellar.
> I'm a big fan of many of the MacBaren blends, and Plumcake is IMHO one of the best.


I tried this for the first time a couple of days ago. I too am not a fan of Latakia, but as BigG said there wasn't a lot in this blend and what there was I actually enjoyed. Very tasty stuff. It will never be something I smoke often, but I'll come back to it regularly for a change of pace.


----------

